It must have been an omen... a magical omen for the kind of day we were about to experience.

There were 10 of us hikers hunkering down at the River Pa to avoid the storm. Ten hikers representing 8 languages and countless smells of funk. Pip taught me how to make proper New Zealand scones and we drank our weight in G &T's. Petr, Suzi and I left early in the morning to a beautiful blue sky. We were accompanied by a new hiking partner, the mysterious white horse. Unreal.

Moments later, we ran into the owner of our favorite hand crafted beer, Tuatara. Seeing as her brewery was just 2 kms off the trail we had to make a difficult decision in the blistering heat to pay it a visit.

That sure was exhausting... Good thing there was a cafe in the home depot warehouse across the street. We made sure to sit in the outdoor garden section to feel the essence of nature on this special day. Potted plants... I'll never look at you the same.

With all this hard work, I certainly needed a shower... I mean, shit, it must have been 4 hours since I last washed my hair and clothes. What's that over there?! A water slide park?! I wonder if they'll give us dirty hikers a discount and let us ride in our undies... I'll do the talking!

We finally made it back to the trail and finished off the day with a long beach path and a late night road walking section by the main highway. It was grand. It was perfect. It was one of those magical days that was destined to happen. This trail is too short to not have as much fun as possible. This life is too short to not give it your all. The white horse told me that, and thankfully, I was able to listen.